


Old and New

by NeoVenus22



Category: Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Original Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-10
Updated: 2010-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-06 02:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ICtT, the trio meets the new team for the first time. Written for the timeline tag meme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old and New

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [It Came to This](https://archiveofourown.org/works/48181) by [NeoVenus22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22). 



"Nervous?" said Ethan.

"Never," said Conner.

"You're nervous," said Kira, and squeezed Conner's hand. He jerked it away abruptly.

"Not in front of the kids," he hissed. "It takes away my credibility."

"Why do they have to be kids, again?" she asked, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she dutifully withdrew her affection. She had clearly decided to be amused rather than annoyed.

Conner shrugged. "Worked for every other team in the past. Jason was younger than we were when we started, right?"

"What he means is, he's too old to do all that running," Ethan explained.

"Funny, and untrue," said Conner. "Anyway, I picked all the kids from my classes. They're at different skill levels, and have different strengths and weaknesses. I tried to balance it. Robbie is yellow, Ian is blue, and Kaitlin," he gave Kira a disapproving sideways glance that made her swallow her laughter a second time, "is red."

"And they all know what this entails?" she said.

"I've explained it," he said, "but they'll never really _know_ until they're in the middle of it."

"Maybe not even then," added Ethan quietly. A somber moment fell over the trio, as they all privately wondered again why they chose 'kids' to do this work. It seemed tragically unfair. But before any of them could comment, a loud voice exploded off the walls of the lab in Conner and Ethan's shared basement.

"Mr. McKnight?"

Ethan jabbed his elbow into Conner's side. "Mister?"

"You've never been called mister before? By one of your company underlings or something?"

"Well, yeah, but I mean, that's me. And you're... well, you're you."

Kira didn't even bother trying to hold back her amusement that time, just giggled helplessly while Conner sighed, ever beleaguered. "Yeah, Robbie, we're in here," he called out.

The three kids made the final turn into the finished product of Conner and Ethan's elaborate lab, complete with six visible view screens, at least three computers, and a number of high tech-looking devices of questionable intent. The kids took all this in first: Ian in the middle, with his shaved head and the ink of a tattoo peeking out from under his shirtsleeve; flanked by Kaitlin on the left, with her red hair swept into a high ponytail and her hands jammed into the pockets of her baggy pants; and Robbie on the right, his curly hair falling to the shoulders of his scruffy-looking t-shirt. "If I may, Mr. McKnight, nice digs," he said, the first to let his gaze fall on the three people in the middle of the room, and the first whose eyes bugged out of his head. "You're Kira Ford."

Kira cocked her eyebrow at her former teammates ever so slightly. "That's the name on my driver's license, yeah."

"You drive?" said Ethan.

"Of course not. That's what Conner's for. But I _do_ have a license."

"_Guys_," Conner chastised in a rare serious tone. They quieted instantly. "Well, thanks for coming," he said, this time directed to his three students. "These are my associates, Ethan James, and you already know Kira Ford."

"I have your album," Kaitlin stated matter-of-factly.

"Thanks," said Kira. She turned to Conner. "I like her."

"Of course you do," he said.

"Um, Mr. McKnight?" said Robbie. "Sorry to interrupt and all. Listen, it's not like I, we, don't believe you and everything, but, um, we'd kinda like to see the suits and the big machines and stuff."

"Zords," said Kira. "They're Zords."

"Named after Zordon," said Conner, "a, um..."

"Head?" suggested Ethan.

"_Being_," he said, "that helped started the original team. You guys are gonna get the suits and the Zords, but you're gonna get the history, too. There's an entire legacy of Rangers who came before you, and you need to know all about them."

"Sure, Con, scare the kids off with history," scoffed Kira. "Didn't you used to be the cool one?"

"I'm still the cool one."

"First of all," said Ethan, "Conner was never the cool one. I was. Second of all, I will gladly give up that throne now, because Conner, dude, the lady is a rock star. A rock star, I might add, who is taking time off from her busy tour schedule to give our little youngsters here a crash course in what it means to squeeze into that spandex."

Conner's twitching facial muscles indicated he was biting back a retort, but he managed to tame them into a smile, which he directed at the kids. "This isn't going to be easy, and it's not always going to be fun. But you're all three good people, and great fighters, and I have the utmost faith in your capability for this task. And you'll always have the three of us behind you."

"And Jason and Hales," contributed Ethan.

"So," said Conner. "Are you ready?"

Ian, who so far hadn't said a word, continued to maintain his reputation by merely nodding at his compatriots. Robbie echoed the move, and Kaitlin assumed her natural role by stepping forward and speaking for the group. "We're ready."


End file.
